A matter of perspective
by MajesticHippo
Summary: When the very world she was reborn into rejects her it is just another reminder of how unnatural she is.But this is her new life and if the world has no place for her she is just going to have to make one. SI! OC
1. The Awakening

_I know I shouldn't be uploading another story when I haven't updated in ages...but I couldn't resist!Rate T for OC's potty mouth. And I don't own Magi._

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 _I can grant you any wish that your heart desires._

 _Now, what is it that you wish for?_

 _Then it shall be so,but on one condition._

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The young child woke up with a scream,her limbs tangling with silken sheets trapping the frantic thrashing. Falling, her head meeting the cold floor with a resounding crack. Her chest heaving, sucking it air like a drowning man as the pain left her momentarily stunned, thick blue hair clinging to her body in sweaty clumps.

 _Brown, it should be brown! Why is it blue! Oh god why is it blue!_

Snapping out of her daze, the child finally threw off her sheets, her hands at last able to clutch at her throat, fingers frantically flew over perfectly smooth skin.

 _Where's the blood?Why isn't there any blood?! There should be blood everywhere! There was meant to be blood!_

But despite the growing frantic clawing at her throat the skin remain smooth and unblemished. Not a cut or a spec of blood to be found. Her breathing quickened becoming more and more shallow as she threw herself into the throws of panic.

 _Where was she?!This wasn't her home! Carpet there should be carpets, not tiles?!_

Head snapping around the room, blue hair slapping against her face, wide confused amber eyes darted from side to side taking in the lush and colourful room she found herself in. Her hand instantly went up to shield her eyes from light that streamed from the deep set windows. The hand froze in front of her face.

 _Why is it tanned!? She was as pale as a bloody ghost! She burnt like a lobster in the sun, her skin wasn't this dark?!_

But no matter how much she rubbed at the exposed skin it remained a tawny brown. Once again wide eyes popped as she took in how small the hands were. She shakily held them up close to her face as if a bringing them closer would return them to the larger hand of an adult and not the pudgy digits of a four year old.

 _Wrong,wrong it all wrong!_

Wide and lose silk sleeves pushed against her arms, careful embroidery lining the shirt like dress fell to her small pudgy feet and was just another thing to add to the list of things that where absolutely wrong.

 _Oh God no no no NO! This wasn't happening!_

Decretive tiled floors, shimmering silk and satin sheets in deep reds,golds and blues lay strewn on the floor a plush bed dominated the room, the walls were covered in brightly coloured mosaics forming intricate patterns and scenes.A raging waterfall there, a soaring Phoenix, palaces,and rising suns all telling stories that she couldn't possibly comprehend or appreciate in her panic.

 _Wrong,wrong its all wrong! There should be ratty carpet with questionable stains and only a single bed with an equally warn mattress that was supposed to be soaked with her blood. Night it was meant to be night! There shouldn't be lush couches or mosaics or lamps or arches and it shouldn't be morning and there shouldn't be the smell of incense…or… it was all wrong… wasn't it?_

It was then that the heavy looking carved doors burst open and two men carrying curved swords burst into that she froze in fear. The men where dressed in dark blue robes and loose red pants, with thick red sashes around their waists, a uniform. Their tanned skin gleamed with a light seen of took all this in with wide eyes, that would probably pop out of her skull if there was another surprise, as the men scoured the room before turning to her with concerned gazes and they where asking her questions and SHE COULDN'T UNDERSTAND THEM!

By now she was in a state of full blown panic, her breathing came in short shallow gasps. She felt a hand on her shoulder and letting out a terrified shriek she jerked away from the appendage, still not comprehending anything that was happening to her.

 _They are my guards, father stationed them outside my room after the last kidnapping attempt._

What!? Where did …how did she know that? She hadn't even met her father, and she doubted the man behind bars cared about her enough to get guards, let alone afford it!And who the hell had guards these day beside the freaking pope! No! she couldn't get side tracked she had to get out of here go to the police or home…..no not home.

 _This is home, this is my room._

 _What? No! She damn well knew the 90 sq. ft space she called home….where she got..._

Then the memories came flooding in of another life one that didn't know electricity and London didn't were she was the daughter of the Grand Vizor and Royal Hekim-bashi, not one of a druggie and a prostitute. Sweet baby tap-dancing Jesus, Mother of god she did die! And with that she promptly fainted which threw the poor flustered guards into a state of pure panic.


	2. Transitioning Stage

Death is peaceful. Life is the transition that's was definitely still in the transitioning stage. Groaning she slowly opened her eyes. Laying in her soft bed she attempted to sort out the migraine of revelations. She had been reborn. She had died and been reborn. Fuck. Her head ached as her mind sorted out memories from two lives.

Oh God. She had died! Squeezing her eyes shut she griped her head as over whelming loss crashed over her. She had just lost everything, sure she was the first to admit her past life had been kind of shitty, but it had been hers. She had worked her arse off to get that disgusting apartment, she'd turned her life around and was finally on the right track. She was going to make a name for herself. Gone now it was all gone and she had to start all over again!

She didn't know how long she stayed there, curled up upon herself, but it was the sound of the two heavy doors slamming open and a voice shouting at her to get up that finally made her look up.

Determined,milky eyes looked at her out of an old weathered face - _Nine_. The old woman - no her Nine - slapped a gnarled hand to her forehead, then her neck,before pulling her cheeks wasn't made of play dough Lady, that hurt! It was when the batty woman opened her mouth and started expecting her tongue that she started voicing her complaints. Or they would have been complaints if the old fruit cake's hands weren't in it, so instead a sound came out that was something comparable to the sound of a drowning duck.

Once the hands where finally removed, she glared at the old lady who was looking at her expectantly.

"What?" The small child waspishly snapped.

"What is that tone of voice girl? You're obviously not sick so what are you doing lazying about here?"

Well lady,she thought scathingly, waking from the dead is a mighty fine excuse for missing lessons.

"You were supposed to be at your morning lessons half an hour ago you!" her voice was scratchy, like rusty nail on a black board.

"Honestly I sent Fatima an hour ago to wake you! Useless girl!" The intruder snapped exasperatedly before picking her up, despite her squarks of protests - because dammit she was a fully grown independent woman and she refused to be manhandled! She repressed the image of fragile winkled hands being replaced by strong youthful - No! She refused to think about it.

"Well" she huffed "there is no point in you attending your History lessons now, we'll just have to miss it and move on to etiquette" By now the misplaced soul had come to the conclusion that this lady - _Nine_ \- fine! That _Nine_ was completely and utterly insane, because she would sooner turn into a penguin than go to etiquette lessons.

The batty woman finally gave up on manhandling the child out of the room and had proceeded to drag her by her hand down intricately decorated halls. Nine completely disregarded the kicking and profanities flowing form the girls mouth, though she would be having a word to the girls guards at just how exactly a four year old child had learnt those words.

* * *

She let out a tired sigh before propping her head in her hand and continued to stare over the old bats shoulder as they traveled down a ridiculously long and richly decorated hallway. The granny's frail appearance might have concealed her apparent super strength but even though she lost this battle she hadn't lost the war, mark her words.

Nine had ended up having to carry her after she had sat down and refused to move, Nine had refused to drag her young charge through the halls of the palace in such an undignified way, so ignoring the bared teeth she plucked up the child and stormed through the corridors to the girls next lesson.

"Honestly Arsalan!" that was apparently the name of this body "What has gotten into you today?Your acting like a wild animal!" but the reprimanding fell on deaf ear and the child continued to pout over her shoulder. Though not-Arsalan would have said that she did not pout, she glowered.

The etiquette lesson had been a complete disaster and had ended in Arsalan throwing a book at her instructor spouting nonsense about not turning into a penguin. Nine didn't know what a penguin was but she wouldn't stand for this behaviour much longer.

Meanwhile not-Arsalan had resorted to making faces at the passing guards and maids but the guards made no reactions and the maids just politely smiled and continued about their day. They all had the personality of a lemon that has been truly sucked dry if you asked her.

But during her time trapped here she had made some conclusions. One, she had died and had seemingly been given a second chance in the body of this 'Arsalan'. Two she still had access to some of the memories of this body which at least gave her some advantages in this life. Three, she was definitely not in the 21st century as she hadn't seen a single light bulb and the way people dressed was screaming that this was not the age of hoodies and chucks and flushable toilets. Four, she was nearly positive that the Tirgransi Empire did not exist BC or contradicted her memories that she lived in the Palace of the Capitol City of the Tirgransi Empire. She thanked God or whoever was up there that they at least had the sense of not making her a princess. Five even if she was a princess she was still oh so royally screwed.

Letting out another defeated sigh she settled for ignoring all of her problems and instead focused on drooling on the knobbly shoulder she was strung just as she was about let the long string of saliva she had been playing with for the last minute loose on the old baggages shoulder, the monotone moment was broken.

"Now whats this I hear about you scaring the poor unfortunate souls that are your guards" Her voice was scratchy and creaky, like an old record, she found it oddly calming and familiar.

"Now Araslan I taught you better than that!" Deciding that she had a complete right to act like a brat she merely harrumphed and went back to slobbering on the witches shoulder and plotting various ways she could end Batty Nine's life. "Lord give strength" Nine muttered under her breath.

Lady the Lord better be giving me strength to cope with all this bullshit, the courage to maintain my self control and the dam wisdom to know that if I act on these homicidal thoughts I'm having that I am most likely going to end up in jail. Not-Araslan's homicidal thoughts were cut short as the granny then swiftly entered through another set of ostentatious double doors.

"Now you had better behave, you know that Hoja Ithnan does not stand for bratty behaviour"

"Yeah,yeah I promise no throwing of books will - wait Hoja what now?" Please,please,please let the man just coincidentally share the same name.

"Honestly child, your magic teacher Ithnan. Really now, I though you would be excited beside horse riding and arms training this is your favourite class" Batty Nine say magic teacher who now!

Batty Nine opened another pair of intricately carved doors unto a beautiful court was filled with beautiful things such as fountains and arches and sweet smelling filled the area,birds tweeted and butterflies Arsalan only saw dark clouds,lightning crashing behind the man man who's very appearance had just crushed all of her plans of living a quite life of luxury in this new life as well as all of her hopes that she was still on earth.

A tall blonde haired man with three vertical dots on his forehead stood before her, with a swish of his black robes he glided towards her, his staff clacking rhythmically against the path.

She probably looked like a completely fool with the whole mouth agape and bug eyes but she couldn't give a rat's ass for she just realised just how royally screwed she truly was. She took back any thanks she had given to the powers that would much rather be dead than this. Ithnan, The Ithnan, psychotic, sociopathic Ithnan, Ithnan of Magi was her magic teacher.

'Fuck me'

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Nine-granny,grandmother etc

Hoja - a title for teacher in the Sultan's court


	3. A Lesson In Bird Watching

Hey Guys, so sorry I haven't uploaded recently :( Everything's a little hectic at the moment but I haven't given up on any of my stories! Anyway I hope this chapter makes sense and that the summary is starting to make sense as well. FOrshawdoing! There are little hints throughout this chapter about what's to come so I hope you guys enjoy!

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"Well, my job here is done, I'll be back to escort your next lesson in two hours" and with a swirl of burgundy skirts Nine headed towards the exit, or she would have if a small limpet hadn't clamped onto her leg like a life line.

"You can't leave me! I..Im - I'm feeling really sick, yeah!I'm sick!"The brat then started the fakest coughing Nine had ever heard, the things she put up with. So Arsalan was promptly peeled from Nine's leg,and thrust in the general direction of The-Ultimate-Creep-Of-The-Know-World.

"Two hours" and before Arsalan could say penguin Nine had disappeared.

"Well since you have finally arrived we can now properly start your lessons" She was so so Dead. God, she was going to be chopped up into little bitty Li-Arsalan appetisers and sacrificed to that flying spaghetti monster that he worshiped! Dead she was doubly dead!

Arsalan sat eyes scrunched up waiting for the inevitable cackling before her untimely second death, but nothing happened.

"While I find your apparent fear amusing, I have a job to carry out that sadly involves teaching, I would suggest that you hurry up." The voice wasn't coming from in front of her like she expected but further away. Opening her eyes revealed Ithnan had mealy moved to a large patio, a smile on his face.

A confused Arsalan wearily stumbled over to her teacher,nearly tripping over her embodied goofy trousers - _salwar -_ till she reached Ithnan. He raised one blonde eyebrow at her expectantly, her body seemed to know what to do for the next moment she was sitting elegantly infant of him, hands folded neatly in her lap. His smile never changed, it scared her.

"So since you have kept me waiting long enough and have finally stopped your quite frankly pointless shaking- I am not going to kill you girl, that would be counter-productive - we shall begin the lesson." Good lord this guy liked the sound of his own voice she was odd how her body was so relaxed around him and part of her wanted to give into the pull of it was wrong, she wasn't meant to be relaxed around this guy, she didn't know him!She only knew him through the pages of a she did know him, she had been her teacher for months now.

There was definitely something off about the smile, it never changed, it was empty.

"Since we have already covered the Rukh, its purpose and properties previously we shall begin to take the steps needed to sense it."

"But since all people have magoi,can't they all sense it?" Instead of sending her an annoyed look or killing her, it was still a valid option in her mind, he merely continued to smile that unnerving smile and answer her.

"While that is correct, all people do have magoi, not everyone can sense it and only the magi can see it. If everyone could sense magoi then ever magician would immediately be able to form a bolg. Every magician must first learn to sense the Rukh before being able to manipulate it." There was something off about his wording but it wasn't until much later that she learnt what. The smile stayed intact throughout the entire lecture

"Everyone has the ability to learn to sense the rukh, but only a select few can learn to manipulate it, as you are not a magician you will never be able to manipulate it, but learning to sense it will be a valuable skill regardless". The wave of disappointment she felt when she heard she would never be a magician seemed familiar as if she had already learnt this crushing fact.

 _She already had, he told her 3 weeks ago_

"Now, the Rukh is all around you, in the air in every creature, every living thing contains magoi and therefore Rukh. As it is a constant presence most people have accepted it as just something there never learning what it is that they are is normal for them, a part of everyday life, therefore it is difficult for most people to single out this feeling"

Her feet were starting to go numb from sitting so still for so long, but Ithnan held her complete attention. She soaked up the information, she fell into a routine as if listening to Ithnan for hours was the norm.

 _It is_

 _"_ I need you to open your mind to feel the air around you, the wind on your face, the earth beneath your feet, hear the birds, feel the warmth of the sun on your face. The _life_ surrounding you. Feel _its_ constant presence. Feel the difference between the birds and the dead ground beneath you."

She had shut her eyes, her body falling into a sort of stasis as her mind wondered, she felt the light on her face the cool earth beneath her feet. She heard a bird chirping in the Olive tree to her left, on the top right-hand , she felt the bird there, felt it shuffle its feet, ruffle its felt it open its beak to sing. She felt the sheer life that the small bird held.

Arsalan opened her eyes with a gasp and then she _saw_ it, she saw the golden birds fluttering around the courtyard mixing with the black ones that surrounded her teacher. Those black birds clung to him surrounding him, Golden birds fluttered around that bird in the tree, around the guards that lined the edges of the courtyard. This had never happened to her in any of Ithnan's lessons before! She had never been able to see the Rukh before!

 _But they didn't surround her._

 _The birds avoided her._

As soon as one of the birds got within 3 meters of her it would jerk and then _flee._

 _Only the Magi, whom the Rukh **loved** could see the Rukh._

 _She could see the Rukh. But the Rukh didn't **love** her, no it **avoided** her. The Rukh **hated** her._

Ithnan's smile grew with the girls growing despair. Arsalan stared at him in horror tears rolling down her chubby cheeks as she was rejected by the very Life force of the world. She recognised what had felt off about that smile, what unsettled her about it.

 _It hated her the Rukh **despised** her._

It was the first time she looked into Ithnan's eyes.

 _The Rukh represented peoples **souls** in this world. It was meant to be in every living being. Rukh was the **home** of souls. So what did that make her?_

 _Abomination_

She looked, and in those, eyes she saw hatred, pure hatred. Revulsion at her very presence.

 _What was she?What was she!WHAT WAS SHE!_

That smile made sense now, it wasn't empty. It was covered in maliciousness, painted in hatred. It was a smile of a person who knew the person they hated was going to suffer. It was a smile that couldn't wait for events to unfold.

She sobbing now, gasping her lungs desperately trying to grasp at that precious air.

Did she even need it anymore? She was a monster, wasn't she? The very Life force rejected her! _Abomination_.

"I'm so glad that you have finally woken up, my dear _student"_

 _ **Abomination**._


End file.
